Tag Archives: family
Favorite Photo of the Week 10 … Freckles
Posted on 15. Jul, 2010 by maryanne.
How could this not be my favorite photo this week? This is my freckled-sunshine-Annie girl. Those Hydrangeas were just begging to bring out the blue in her eyes. She begrudgingly posed for this. I was in the middle of another shoot, and she was in the middle of working on one of her two summer jobs. I held the soft petals against her face and said a name of someone she holds dear. We won’t say whom. All I can say is she lost her resolve to make me stop, and gave me a soft and pensive smile. She told me I cheated. Maybe I did. Look what I got? Magic. My summer girl.
Add your comment...
Grateful
Posted on 25. Jun, 2010 by maryanne.
This is the view from our balcony this week in Colorado. We are on a family vacation this week. One that I have looked forward to for some time. I have needed the rest so badly. When we first got to our location, my heart fell silent. I couldn’t believe both the extravagance and the generosity of the people who are allowing us to stay in their home. It is, hands down, the most beautiful place I have ever stayed in my whole life.
All I could feel was gratitude. I was so thankful to my Father in Heaven who seems to take delight in surprising me with His never ending goodness. Thankful for our friends who so lavishly gifted us with this week in such a beautiful home. No detail has been left unattended to.
Here is an excerpt from my journal that I wrote after awaking the morning after our arrival.
“That feeling you get as a tear begins to form in your heart and move it’s way from the intangible to the visible – is beautiful and I do not resist it. I embrace it. Yes, I will weep and I don’t have to ask why. Just – cry. It makes me feel alive. I am inside myself- I am living my life and not just carrying the lives of those around me. I am so grateful. A single tear reminds me of all these things. So thankful. I don’t have to figure it all out. I just have to respond and surrender.
When I look at the extravagance of this house, and then the mountains, this blue blue sky, I pause to think that God is so much bigger than any way I could possibly imagine Him to be. I could hardly speak when I got here yesterday. My mind was shut down by the overwhelming beauty, but my heart was saying “yes”. Just “yes”. Isn’t it like God to think of every detail- like when He built the temple- every measurement well thought out, to build something so glorious and extravagant. And then, to give it freely to us, who couldn’t possibly conceive all He had done. ( Jesus eventually represented the temple, also freely given.)
‘ Such things are too wonderful for me, to lofty to attain.’~ Psalm 139:6. But we still say ‘yes’. We say ‘yes’ and ‘Thank You’.”
Enjoy some of the photos I have taken so far of this glorious place. Colorado.
Add your comment...
See there was this storm, and i have these kids…
Posted on 17. Jun, 2010 by maryanne.
It has been a week of have to’s. You know what I mean, doing all the things you have to do. I love my job, but I desire time and space to photograph and create just for fun, where there is no pressure. This is one of those moments. Shortly after a client left the house the other day, a storm blew up. A big one. I knew at the very least that I was going to to sit on the front porch and watch it blow in. I wanted the winds to blow all the way through my soul, and sweep away the stress of trying to get everything just right. I was headed that way when I saw my daughter Katie in the hallway. “Let’s go out and shoot in the storm!” I blurted out. Katie is such a good sport. She agreed, and out we went. Moments later, Johnny was out there with us, holding the light and then getting in a couple himself. It felt so wonderful, out there with the wind, my camera, my kids (and one Alien Bee 800 with a 30 degree grid spot). I will get Annie in on it next time. 
So fun! Here are the results.
May you have a surprise storm in your life this week. The refreshing kind.
Add your comment...
Favorite photo of the week 2
Posted on 20. Apr, 2010 by maryanne.
I love this photo of my Annie. She will be twenty this week. Although this photo was just taken last year atop our horse Jackie, you can still see the little girl in her. My little girl. The little girl that loves to come home and ride horses, sit and read on the porch swing, dance in the kitchen and make me laugh. Annie. Only one.
Add your comment...
Can I do this all the time?
Posted on 19. Apr, 2010 by maryanne.
I got to go play at my friend Kelly’s house last week. There was no agenda, except to get a couple shots of her for the Veterinary Clinic where she works. She is a vet, and I secretly envy her. I wanted to be one when I was a little girl. I brought home every struggling animal I could find as a kid. My poor mom. Every spring I would bring home a baby bird that had fallen from the nest and do my best to nurse it until it was ready to fly. Don’t think I ever succeeded.:( Anyway, when I hit Chemistry in high school, I assumed God had other plans for me. Therefore, I have deep admiration for anyone with the brains and skills that Kelly has. She is also an artist, so she got both. Not sure how fair that is, but I love her anyway.
Here are some pictures of her and her two youngest boys just playing on her farm. She has baby chicks right now and I loved just walking around observing and photographing all of it combined. Joy, sunshine, laughter, innocence and just sweetness. Wish I could do that all time. I hope you enjoy the photos as much as I did shooting them.
Add your comment...
Expecting Catherine Style
Posted on 07. Feb, 2010 by maryanne.
I met Salena almost three years ago when she interviewed to be part of the dance ministry at 12Stone Church. We arranged to meet at the local Starbucks and I had not yet seen her in person but only communicated with her via email. When she walked in the door, I was taken with her sense of fashion and how put together she seemed. She was donning a sleek creme trench coat she had purchased while on a trip to London with her husband, Sean. We hit it off right away. I found her easy to talk to and her laughter and heart for God contagious. I had not yet seen her dance, but I felt sure if she could dance even a little, she would be a great addition to the wonderful team of girls I lead. My intuition was right, and she soon became a team favorite, always keeping everyone laughing, and her dancing was so elegant and strong.
Now, she and her husband Sean are expecting their first baby. I was so excited when she asked me to do her maternity photos. I knew it would be fun. Salena and Sean love style so much it is their baby girl’s middle name. So, of course, we couldn’t do a typical maternity shoot for this fashionista.
See if you agree!
Add your comment...
Leaving for Liberia
Posted on 29. Dec, 2009 by maryanne.
This is a leaving face. You know the one. It says, ” I am sorry this is hard for you, I really am. I am doing my best to be sorry. However, I am so excited about going on this trip that I am about to explode, so take the picture quick. I can only hold this pitiful face for so long.”
This is my Annie right before she left with several others from the Water’s Edge Missions Team for Liberia.
I have known about this trip for months, and have had an unsteady feeling in my legs, as if the earth were about to move. Africa, after all, is on the other side of the world. If not technically, it is to a mother’s heart. A little over a week ago, they each invited a person to come to their regular prayer time to pray for each of them specifically. Annie chose me. I felt honored, because I knew she didn’t do it just because I am her mom. She knows and trusts that I will pray for her and her team. As we prayed, I felt convicted to repent of holding her too closely, and not wanting to share her with the world. As tears streamed down my cheeks, I opened my hands to signify letting her go, and I asked God to forgive me for holding on to my Annie bird, and gave her permission to fly. We have often called her Annie bird, and it seems so fitting now, as she literally is now flying around the world to touch other lands and faces. How I love my Annie bird. I have tried my best as a momma to entrust her to the One who loves her the most. My Father who sees all and knows all. I am so thankful He is also the One who is able to help her in her time of need, even when momma bird is still at home singing prayers to Him.
There is something else. The day she left, I had a strange sensation. I felt that God was opening her world to her like He never has before. This is not so strange in and of itself, but I also felt that He was opening MY world through Annie’s journey. Like she was taking steps that would lessen the chasm from here to distant lands for me as well. My daughter was paving a way for me too somehow. I cannot explain it, but I am grateful for it. She is preparing the way for many, and I am one of them.
Before they left, they tied colorful ribbon around all their luggage. Some of the parents put some on their wrists to help them remember to pray. ( As if we need reminders). Danielle, one of the team leaders, put one on my camera strap. That was a good place.
Here are some more photos of the team before they left. Looking forward to the fruit that will come from their journey!
Add your comment...
Boys will be… beautiful
Posted on 05. Dec, 2009 by maryanne.
Every year for some time now I have been going out to my good friends Keith and Kelly Anderson’s farm to photograph their beautiful boys. I love it. When you see the images below you will know why. They are so full of life, and we always have fun running around her farm from place to place laughing and giggling. I can’t help laughing listening to them talk to one another, drop right on the spot and wrestle in the mud, chase chickens, and sometimes, I get them feeling pensive. The youngest, Ethan, is an old soul. He is the most like his mommy, I think. I can usually catch him standing with his hands in his pockets thinking about something important, I am sure. He is a love bug too, and I could just squeeze and kiss him all day. The middle one, Jonathan, comes up with the most amazing things to say. When I told him I couldn’t go with them to see Santa that night, he quipped ” it is such a hateful world”. I laughed about that all the way home with my Johnny, who assisted me on the shoot. Their oldest, Jack, is so funny too. He also comes out with hilarious things that sound like they came from a twenty-something man. All of them, amazing, and adorable.
Their mom, Kelly, is one of my dearest friends. She is wonderful through and through. She is a veterinarian, and therefore an instant hero for me. I always wanted to be one when I was a kid, but lacked the chemistry grades in high school. She has both beauty and brains. You can’t beat it. There is always a potpourri of different animals and rescues at her place. She has a heart of gold and the animals always seem to find her. I am always at home there myself. It is a good place to be.
Enjoy the beautiful Anderson boys.~
Add your comment...
Last Year this Time
Posted on 10. Sep, 2009 by maryanne.
This is my sister’s family. Aren’t they lovely? As I was putting together a book for her today, I found myself wanting to blog these photos again. So much has changed since we took the time to photograph her beautiful and fun family. Her older two are now in colleges far away from home and her youngest is in his senior year. Things can change so quickly in such a short amount of time. I am so glad we took a lovely fall afternoon to capture them all together.
Aren’t they wonderful?
